‘Radical action’ needed if EU is to hit climate-change targets

Commission paper will set agenda for ten years.

Europe’s transport network must undergo “a radical transformation” by 2050 if the European Union is to switch to cleaner fuels and meet climate-change pledges, according to a draft European Commission paper obtained by European Voice.

Europe-wide speed limits for cars, vans and lorries, the elimination of environmentally-damaging subsidies, and green technology are just some of the ideas discussed in the wide-ranging white paper. Extending the EU’s emissions trading system to road transport is also mentioned.

The early draft has yet to go through a full Commission consultation and is likely to change before publication, which is now expected in January or February 2011.

Siim Kallas, the European commissioner for transport, will personally re-draft the paper, which officials think may come to define his five-year term in office.

The transport white paper, which also covers internal market and ‘smart’ transport technologies, will set the EU’s transport agenda for the next ten years.

But the sections on transport’s carbon footprint will be hotly debated. Commission President José Manuel Barroso promised that ‘decarbonisation’ of transport would be one of his priorities during his second term.

EU leaders have called on rich countries to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 80%-95% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels, if the world is to have a chance of avoiding dangerous climate change.

The white paper sets out a less demanding benchmark, suggesting that transport will need to reduce emissions by “at least” 45%-60% below 1990 levels by 2050, while the rest of the economy faces reductions of 75%.

This is still a tall order for the transport sector, as its emissions increased after 1990, and only started falling from 2008, once the economic crisis set in.

Road charging

The paper identifies three ways of meeting climate goals: gearing transport taxes, charges and subsidies to environmental goals; public support for green technologies, such as electric cars and zero-emission ships; and encouraging behaviour change among transport users.

One of the boldest ideas is for a pan-European road charging system in which national authorities would set tolls for all drivers. Details of this long-term aspiration are not fleshed out. Nevertheless, the notion of charging drivers to use roads goes far beyond current EU rules on lorry tolls, which are currently being extended (see Page 1).

The Commission also wants to examine EU-wide speed limits – 80km per hour for lorries and 110km-130km per hour for cars – an idea that has run into fierce political opposition in the past.